Napster's activities, or rather its users'
activities, have become the focus of a major
debate throughout the United States, especially
on American campuses. Obviously what is heard
across the board from the plaintiffs is
basically what all the victims of piracy have
always proclaimed: that it kills business, and
that there is nothing glamourous in it. The
novelty is that small-scale, independent
entrepreneurs and unknown musicians are joining
the fray and are developing their own means to
fight Napster, such as dropping "cuckoos-eggs",
"bombs" or "Trojan horses" (empty
or falsely labeled music files) on the Net to
thwart the functioning of Napster.

Like
the majors, they consider Napster as sheer
robbery, depriving them from their livelihood.
More famous names have also come forward in
support of the RIAA's action such as Throwing
Muses' Kristin Hersh, Black Crowes' lead singer
Chris Robinson, Jonatha Brooke, Sara McLachlan
or Mick Jagger, on ads sponsored by the RIAA,
that read "I support the RIAA and its
actions against Music Archive Sites on the
Internet because copyright is my lifeline,
without it recording artists would drown,"
or "Don't trash us by pirating sound
recordings on the Net. Get real. Get legit.".
Some artists, like Metallica or Dr. Dre have
even gone one step further and have personally
sued Napster.
The main arguments of Napster's opponents,
artists and labels alike, is that the works are
used without their permission, and that such
practises ultimately hurt and penalize
lesser-known artists since fewer official CD
sales may induce their record companies to
terminate their contracts.

On
the other side, one can also find a surprisingly
high number of musicians and independent record
companies (Alan Kovac, president of Left Bank
Management, which represents the Bee Gees and
Motley Crüe, Jim Guerinot, owner of Time Bomb
Records and manager for The Offspring and No
Doubt...) supporting Napster users. Their
arguments sound as convincing as those of their
opponents: they maintain that Napster gives
musicians, particularly the more obscure ones,
greater exposure (indeed, Napster home page
features a "discovery" zone and a
chatroom where users are encouraged to discuss
their more offbeat tastes and discoveries); they
point to customers' frustration with CDs' high
prices ($16 on average) and to the fact that
downloading is actually creating more demand (according
to the RIAA Annual Report, music sales have
risen from $13.7 to 14.6 billion in 1999: the
hordes of college students and music fans who
have embraced Napster also seem to be the music
industry's best customers);3 they also
underscore the invaluable interaction thus
created between artists and their audience which
contributes to bypass traditional restraints (limited
radio promotion, bin space in stores and number
of spots on the record company roster...).

Another argument is that even if income from CDs
or paid downloads gets hurt by the new trade in
free tracks online, artists can make up for it
through other means, like touring and the sale
of paraphernalia, while labels might pass on
some savings from lower marketing and promotion
costs and cuts on expensive middlemen. Finally,
all insist on the convenience and ease of use of
Napster which allows to get whatever music one
wants almost immediately and in a form that
allows it to be played anywhere (car radios,
portable players, home stereos...).